A Dangerous Declaration

When the earliest Christians whispered "Jesus is Lord," they were not reciting a doctrinal password. They were committing treason. In a world where Caesar demanded ultimate allegiance — where the empire dictated who mattered and who was disposable — confessing Jesus as Lord was an act of profound resistance. It meant the powers that crush the poor, cage the immigrant, and poison the water do not get the final word.

Romans 10:9 invites us into that same dangerous declaration. To believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead is to trust that death-dealing systems never win permanently. Resurrection is not just a doctrine about what happened to one body two thousand years ago — it is God's ongoing refusal to let injustice stand. As Brian McLaren writes, salvation is not an evacuation plan. It is an invitation to participate in what God is already doing to heal the world.

So what does it mean to confess with your mouth today? Perhaps it means showing up at the city council meeting. Perhaps it means telling your neighbor who has been told they are an abomination that God's love has no asterisk. Perhaps it means planting a garden in a food desert because you believe resurrection happens in soil too.

Confess it. Not as a ticket to somewhere else, but as a commitment to right here — where the Risen Christ is already at work.